Necessary Sacrifices
by redwolffclaw
Summary: Juliet is hurt on a routine call, and Henry is there for her because Shawn can't be. How will they cope when one of the most important people in their lives is barely hanging on. Written for a request on the Psychfic Forums and expanded due to reader demand.
1. Horrible Realizations

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: Written for a challenge on Psychfic by Dragonnan. Started out as a one shot but I have expanded it a bit. Will be some graphic content.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Psych or anything associated with the series.**

* * *

**Chapter 1- Horrific Realizations**

Juliet woke up in agonizing pain. She was lying on her stomach, pinned underneath something and could not move. An echoing voice repeating her name brought her back to reality.

"Detective O'Hara….Detective…. JULIET!"

Her eyes snapped open. She could not speak because of the weight on her back but her coughs let the others in the room know she was conscious.

Juliet felt the crushing weight being slowly removed from her back and she was able to breathe easier. A strong hand helped her sit up. It was Henry Spencer. He had knelt down to her, holding her shoulders as she filled her lungs with air. "What… what happened?"

Holding her still and close, so she could not fully survey the gruesome scene, Henry tried to find his voice. "Sh… my son was able to text me…" He swallowed before continuing. "He found out where you were taken and let us know before going into the house. We got here before he could hurt you."

The house… she started to remember. She had responded to a domestic disturbance on her way back to the station from break. When she knocked on the door a woman had opened it and fallen against her sobbing. "He is going to kill me! Help me!" Before she could pull out her gun she was hit from behind on the head. She woke up next to the dead body of the man's wife and he was waving a gun in her face. She remembered her knight in green plaid showing up and trying to talk the man down. It started to work until sirens in the background caused the man to panic. The last thing she recalled were gunshots and a heavy weight falling on her.

"Where is Shawn?" Juliet tried to look around the room but Henry's tight grip stopped her. "What is going on? Where is he?" Juliet started to panic. Henry's silence was more upsetting than not being able to see everything around her.

Her partner Carlton Lassiter came into view. He looked at Henry and quietly said, "Henry, we have to get her out of the house." He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door.

Juliet planted her feet. "Where is Gus? Why isn't he here?"

"Gus is waiting outside, he couldn't be in here." Carlton explained in a soft voice.

"Carlton! I just got hit on the head. You guys are acting like…." Then reality hit her. The shots fired, the weight crashing into her, and Shawn not being there.

Her body started to shake uncontrollably, "No…." Turning she saw Henry, kneeling over a slumped body, in green plaid.

Ripping her arm out of Carlton's grip she rushed to Henry's side by Shawn's body. Henry's hand moved to grip hers as both sobbed over the most important man in each of their lives. He had taken three bullets in the back while jumping in front of the gun to save Juliet's life.

Carlton moved over to the grieving pair, unsure whether to join in or help them move so Shawn's body could be taken away. He knelt down next to Juliet as she wrapped her arms around Henry and sobbed, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Looking at Shawn, Carlton lay his hand on his shoulder. It was still warm. Raising his eyebrows he took two fingers and touched his neck.

"McNab!" Carlton shouted at the top of his lungs causing Henry and Juliet to jerk apart in surprise..

The young officer rushed inside at the shout "What is it Detective?"

Carlton grabbed a blanket from the couch and began to press down on Shawn's wounds to staunch the bleeding. "Call the ambulance and tell them to hurry up! Spencer is alive!"


	2. Out to Lunch

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: I had to do a back in time piece because I originally intended for the first chapter to be a one shot. I thought this worked out quite nicely though with finding out how everything in the last chapter happened.**

* * *

**Chapter 2- Out to Lunch**

**Two hours earlier: **

"Shawn!" Juliet gave an exasperated sigh. "I can't go out to lunch with you. I can't even have lunch! Carlton had to go to court and he left me with a ton of paperwork to do this morning and it needs to be to the Chief by this afternoon. I am lucky if I have time to step away and get coffee."

Her boyfriend was practically hopping from one foot to another. "C'mon Jules. You know will be able to function better on a full stomach." Pointing towards the door, Shawn tried to sweeten the deal. "It will be my treat. Pleeeease?"

Henry was watching the scene from his desk with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. He had been trying to get work done but the sound of his son whining was one of the sounds he found impossible to block out, even after all these years. Rubbing his head and putting down the paper he had been trying to read for the last five minutes, he turned around to face the bickering pair. "Detective, just go with him. The rest of us will get more work done that way." Shawn stood there, his mouth open in an indignant scoff, but Henry met Juliet's eye and winked at her.

Pushing herself up from her desk, and fighting off the dizziness from standing after sitting too long, she relented. "Alright Shawn. Lets go." She snagged Shawn's arm as she walked towards the exit. "Where were you wanting to go?" Shawn opened his mouth to suggest something but Juliet interrupted her boyfriend. "I refuse to eat any more jerk chicken for the next month so you can pick another place." Shawn opened his mouth again but she stopped him with a glare. "A smoothie shop does not count as lunch, if I am leaving a pile of work to go out with you it is going to be more satisfying than a razzmataz."

Juliet smirked as Shawn looked all out of ideas and he hadn't even said anything. Suddenly his eyes brightened. "How about Red Robin?" Finding this acceptable Juliet agreed.

Once outside they kissed their temporary goodbyes as each needed to take their own vehicles. Juliet needed to head back to work afterwards and Shawn was planning on heading back to Psych for the afternoon until she was free to spend the evening with him. Shawn flashed Juliet a charming grin as he donned his helmet and hopped on his motorcycle.

* * *

"So then Gus says, 'I think we hit something.' and all this water comes gushing up out of the ground soaking us to the bone and covering us mud." Shawn smiled as he told the story. He loved how Juliet thought his misadventures as a kid were funny. "So ended our dream of striking oil."

Juliet laughed, "I bet your dad was furious." Shawn poked at his food and nodded. The detective was still chuckling when she glanced at her watch. "Oh my God! It's been almost an hour! I have to go." She rose and kissed Shawn who was still eating his bottomless fish and chips. "I will see you after work."

Shawn was trying to swallow the food in his mouth to reply but Juliet was already out the door. As she hopped in her vehicle Juliet was actually happy she took Shawn up on his offer. She felt a lot more relaxed and refreshed.

She was halfway back to the station when a call came in over the police radio on her dash. "Units we have a report of a possible 10-16 in the vicinity of Bath and Victoria Streets please respond."

Being only five blocks away Juliet figured she could check it out on the way back to the station, plus it gave her another excuse not to do Carlton's paperwork. "This is Detective Juliet O'Hara, I am near that location and will check it out. Over." She pulled over and wrote down the address before making a U turn and heading towards the house.

* * *

When Juliet pulled up to the house everything was pretty quiet, but she needed to check anyway. Walking up the driveway she thought she saw one of the curtains in the house move. When Juliet reached the door she could definitely hear something going on inside. Knowing that domestic disturbances could be some of the most dangerous calls she was chastising herself for not calling in back up.

She knocked once on the door before a young woman about her age burst through it, falling sobbing into her arms. The woman looked like she had been knocked around. Her scalp was bleeding, probably from when her hair was grabbed, she also had many visible bruises on her face in various states of healing. Juliet figured the abuse had been going on for a while.

"Oh, my God! Thank you! He is going to kill me!" She cried, holding onto Juliet in a death grip. "Help me!"

Juliet pushed her away to look her in the face. "Where is he? Inside?" When the woman nodded frantically Juliet pried the woman the rest of the way off so she could grab her gun. As her hand brushed the handle a searing pain shot through her head and she heard the woman scream as she dropped like a stone to the walkway.

* * *

Shawn got a call a half an hour after lunch with his girlfriend. The caller ID said "Papa Monkey." "Hey dad." Shawn answered while flipping through the channels on the big screen TV.

"Shawn when I said take Juliet out for lunch I didn't mean for the rest of the day. Lassiter is on my ass about her not being here." Henry griped.

Scrunching his brow Shawn didn't understand why Juliet wouldn't be there yet. "Hey, it isn't my fault. She finished eating before me and should have been there a while ago."

Shawn could hear the frustration in his father's voice. "Well she better get here soon or we are going to have a homicide right in the police station." Shawn did not envy his dad for having a desk right across from Detective Lassiter.

"I'll see if I can get a hold of her. If you want to get away from Lassie you can ask around and see if she got called away for some reason. It isn't like Jules to not check in with anyone." His dad grunted in what Shawn could only figure was an affirmative. "Call you later."

Hanging up, Shawn tried calling Juliet's phone. "Hey, this is Juliet O'Hara. Leave a message after the beep."

"Yeah Jules, I know we ate a lot for lunch but that doesn't give you permission to sleep on the job, even though you look very good when you do sleep. Everyone is wondering where you are so give me a call." Hanging up Shawn started to get very worried.

Pursing his lips he decided to go for tracking Juliet's phone. He had promised her it would only be for emergencies and not for paranoid boyfriend reasons. He figured this would technically count as both. If anything else he could blame it on his dad being worried, because it was still difficult to admit even to Juliet that he was scared for her sometimes.

Logging in and picking her phone from the list of phones registered to his tracking account which included Gus and Henry as well. He had wanted to add Carlton but the detective said he would rather eat a badger than give Shawn access to his phone. He got a hit on Juliet's phone instantly. It was in a neighborhood about five minutes from the office. Suspicion started to replace worry as he wondered what in the world she would be doing in that area. He memorized the address and ran out to his baby and rode off to find his girlfriend.

* * *

Everything was dark and silent as Shawn walked towards the house. He noticed Juliet's green bug right away and brought his motorcycle to a stop a couple blocks farther up from it. Motorcycles are not very good stealth machines so he figured it would be less conspicuous. He walked up to the bug and checked inside. As expected it was empty but there was a note pad with the house's address written on it. It confirmed that Juliet was probably called here on the police radio and Shawn felt his jealously deflate but his worry increase.

Staying low he walked up to the side of the house and peeked in. It took three windows before he saw what he was dreading. Juliet was laying on the carpet. By her disoriented movements he figured she had been knocked down or out and was just coming around. Shawn took in the other details of the room. There was another woman lying close to Juliet and he saw she wasn't breathing. "Oh no..." Shawn breathed out as he saw another figure come into view. He was circling the prone detective and Shawn could hear him start to shout at her.

Taking out his phone he decided to do the smart thing and get some kind of back up. He texted his dad that he found Juliet and put in the address followed by "Jules in trouble. Bring help." He swallowed the lump in his throat as he sent his dad the text. He put away his phone and headed for the back door. He found it already wide open as if someone rushed out of it and did not return to shut it.

Tiptoeing inside he could hear the man's yelling more clearly. "You stupid bitch! You just had to get involved! Look what you made me do! I never hurt her that bad before, it's all your fault!"

Shawn peeked around the corner and got a better view. He saw that the man had Juliet's gun and was pointing it at her. There was also bloodied bat lying a few feet away from the other woman, who's head now resembled the watermelon that Woody had smashed during a demonstration a few months ago. His Juliet was wincing and holding up her hand. Trying to talk the man down.

"You don't have to kill me, people know I am here and will come. You will be in a lot more trouble. Let me call and get her some help..." A gunshot silenced her attempts. Debris fell down from the hole as the man leveled the gun at her once more.

Shawn's protective instinct kicked in and he yelled, "Hey!" and jumped into view, he was willing to do anything to get the gun away from Juliet.

Sure enough the gun swung in his direction. "Who the hell are you?!" The man shouted at him.

Juliet, shaking away the grogginess saw Shawn come into the room. "How?" She thought. Despite her earlier statement, only the dispatcher knew she was here. Shawn looked at her and gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Eyes that were now filled with fear for, not his life, but hers.

"Hey man. I was just in the neighborhood and heard some stuff going on." He pointed to the body of the woman, and did his best not to vomit at the mess on the floor. "She your girlfriend?" The man wiped away sweat and nodded. Shawn read the disgust on his features, not for what he had done, but for the woman herself. He came up with a plan. "Man, how many guys in your situation wouldn't want to do that. I mean, women right?" A smile came to the man's face and Shawn knew he was on the right track. "I have a girlfriend and sometimes when she doesn't listen to me I wish I could just..." Shawn clapped his hands accentuating his intentions. "You know what I mean?"

The man's gun wavered, he was obviously off his rocker at that point and his addled brain was having trouble remembering there was someone else in the room besides him and the guy agreeing with him. "Yeah man. She just kept pushing and they have to be put in their places sometimes."

"I hear that." Shawn shot an apologetic glance at Juliet, hoping that she knew he was just playing along. "You know what, we should get out of here and get a drink or something. To celebrate your newfound freedom. I'll buy."

The man nodded, "Sounds good..." Blinking a bit, Shawn started to see realization returning to his features and he remembered Juliet. The gun went back to her and Shawn's eyes widened. "Get up bitch!" Juliet stifled a sob and struggled to her feet, but did not say anything. Her detective training let her realize that Shawn had a connection with the man and she did not want to say anything to get herself shot. "Let me finish her off and we can get that drink." The man's eyes narrowed and his finger tightened on the trigger.

His heart breaking at the fear in Juliet's eyes and desperate to get the attention back on himself, Shawn looked around the room for something to distract him with. His eyes fell on some football memorabilia on the shelves. Apparently the guy was a 49ers fan. "Hey, how about those 49ers?" Shawn remembered the football scores he glanced at that morning in the paper. "Facing off against Minnesota Vikings... they kicked butt didn't they?"

The man's finger started to let up from the trigger and Shawn began to breathe easier until the distant sound of sirens pierced the silence. A cold and determined look came to the man's features and his stance steadied. There was no doubt he was about to pull the trigger. "NO!" Shawn shouted as he jumped towards Juliet.

Three shots rang out and both Shawn and Juliet fell to the floor face down. He landed protectively on top of her but the force knocked the detective out once more. The man stared at the gun then looked at Shawn, wondering why he jumped in front of the bullets. He pointed the gun at Juliet's head, intending to finish the job before the cops got there when his front door burst open and a furious Henry aimed his gun.

"DROP IT!" Henry shouted. When the man didn't drop the weapon and Henry saw who he was pointing it at he opened fire. One well aimed bullet ripped though the man's brain and he collapsed boneless, the gun falling uselessly to the floor.

Henry had taken his own vehicle and luckily arrived a minute before the other officers. He had called Gus right after receiving Shawn's text so both Carlton and Gus arrived seconds after he had taken out the shooter. They were followed closely by Buzz and a couple other black and whites. All had stopped at the door to gawk at the grizzly and bloody scene.

Making sure there was no other threats in the room, Henry rushed to Juliet and Shawn. He saw the blood spreading on the back of Shawn's green plaid shirt and he was pale and unmoving. "Call an ambulance now!" Henry shouted and returned his attention to his son. As he was reaching for Shawn's neck to feel a pulse Henry heard sputtering from Juliet, who was pinned under his son.

"Detective O'Hara can you hear me?" Getting no response he raised his voice, "Detective O'Hara! JULIET!" He saw her open her eyes and start to cough. He realized Shawn's weight was impeding her breathing. He motioned for Carlton to help him gently move Shawn off of her so she could sit up.

Carlton whispered to Henry as they carefully relocated Shawn, "Don't let her see this."

Doing his best to shut off his emotions and deal with the situation, Henry nodded and looked at his lifeless son as Juliet sat up, took a deep breath and asked... "What happened?"


	3. Hopeful Circumstances

**Author's Notes:**

**Ok, I have to say this was a toughie, for the sheer fact that beyond college biology and what I saw on House MD, I don't know much about medical issues. Luckily I have a fount of knowledge in the fact that my husband was an EMT. :D**

**That being said, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

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**Chapter 3- Hopeful Circumstances**

The moment Gus saw that Juliet was awake and moving, he got out of that house, barely making it off the steps before projectile vomiting in the yard. Between gasps and sniffs he felt a large hand rubbing his back comfortingly. "Buzz?"

Kneeling down the gentle giant patted his grieving friend on the back. "Hey, I'm here Gus." He had seen the carnage inside the house as well and like everyone else, figured there was no way that Shawn had survived the shooting. The ambulance had been called but that was just a formality. Soon Woody would be arriving at the scene to take care of the bodies.

"McNab!" Carlton's familiar yell echoed out of the house. Shooting Gus an apologetic look, he rushed inside to see what the detective needed from him, while motioning one of the other uniformed officers to deal with Gus.

He ran into the house, avoiding looking at the bloody mess on the floor to focus on the detective kneeling down next to Shawn's body. "What is it Detective?"

"Call the ambulance and tell them to hurry up! Spencer is alive!" Buzz's eyes widened and he obeyed instantly, urgently telling the paramedics to get here as fast as they could.

While Carlton was applying pressure to the worst of the wounds, Juliet had gone into relieved hysterics. She was sobbing and holding Shawn's hand, begging for him to wake up. "Shawn I'm sorry it was my fault. _Please_ don't leave me!"

Blood was now starting to leak through the blanket Carlton had pressed to Shawn's back, making his hands red and sticky. Shawn was losing too much blood and they were running out of time. The detective looked for any other bleeding wounds. It looked like, for the most part, the hollow point bullets in Juliet's police issued firearm seemed to have lodged themselves inside Shawn as all the blood seemed to be coming out of his back and there were no bullet holes in the front of his shirt. Neither Henry nor Carlton wanted to think of what kind of damage they did before stopping, or where they might be lodged.

That was when Carlton spotted blood pooling under Shawn's left side. He moved Shawn's left arm out slightly and saw a large exit wound right under his armpit that was bleeding heavily. He didn't have enough hands to apply pressure to them all. "Henry!" Carlton shouted to get the shocked man's attention. "Roll him on his stomach and help me apply pressure to the other bullet holes." Mechanically, Henry complied. Carlton knew he didn't have long before Henry lost it all together, just like Juliet had.

_"Damn it, why do people have to get so emotionally involved?"_ Carlton thought bitterly. _"I would kill Shawn for this myself if he wasn't already dying…" _He swallowed hard._ "Why does he always have to be the hero?"_ Looking down the detective noticed his hands were starting to shake and realized with chagrin, he was close to losing it too. "Damn it Spencer."

* * *

Siren's sounded in the distance and Gus looked up from his kneeling position on the ground. _"They must be coming for Juliet." _His foggy mind reasoned and he slumped over farther. He hadn't even had the energy to move away from his half-digested lunch on the ground in front of him. It suddenly didn't seem worth it. Shawn was dead. Gone. No more pineapple smoothies, no more late night slumber parties at the office and no more American Duo nights. No more duo period. Usually the first one in the room bawling his eyes out, Gus was surprised to find his eyes were strangely dry.

Buzz put away his phone and rushed back over to Gus. "Gus, Shawn is alive! The ambulance is coming in a minute and they are taking him to the hospital. Did you want to meet them there?"

His words didn't register at first. "What? He's alive?" The grin on Buzz face was all the confirmation Gus needed. He shot to his feet and tried to go towards the house.

Buzz grabbed Gus' arm and stopped him. "The ambulance will be here in a second. As an officer, I am supposed to tell you that if you go in you will just be in the way." Gus' face fell and Buzz could tell he was very close to crying. Smiling he continued, "As a friend though, I figure it would be best to tell you that if we stand on the side of the door, you would be able to see him better when they wheel him out."

Gus looked at Buzz with a new respect and nodded as both of them positioned themselves next to the stairs and watched as the ambulance pulled up and the paramedics charge in with the stretcher.

* * *

Carlton moved his partner back as the paramedics took over. They loaded Shawn stomach down on the stretcher while he pointed out where the bullet holes were. Despite Juliet's desperate demands to accompany her boyfriend in the ambulance, she was told that she had to be checked out herself and would need to go to the hospital as soon as possible.

Henry had gotten up and turned away, rubbing his head with both his hands trying to calm down so he could be there for his son. Seeing Shawn like that was by far the worst thing he had ever seen in his life, and with a lifetime as a cop he had seen some horrible things. Looking over he saw Juliet was wavering where she stood and he grabbed her arm, both watching as the paramedics hauled away his son. "Lets get you to the hospital Juliet." Henry stated.

Juliet nodded but winced at the movement and clutched her head. It was obvious to the two men in the room that she had a concussion. When she saw that her partner had not moved towards the door she asked woozily, "Carlton are you coming?"

"I'll stay here. I have to be around for forensics. I'll be there as soon as I can O'Hara." He nodded his head towards the door. "Get her out of here Henry."

As they reached the door, walking slowly, a white haired figure blocked their way and they moved so he could enter the house. "Hey guys." Woody the coroner chirped cheerily. He had three body bags under his arm, having heard there were three corpses to pick up at the address. His eyes ghosted over the traumatized people in the room, then noticed the lack of a third body on the floor. Not completely heartless but more ignorant of living people's emotions he innocently asked with a smile, "What did I miss?"

* * *

"Three bullet wounds, two penetrations and one perforation with an exit wound under the left armpit." The lead paramedic was informing the rest of the medical team in the ambulance of the extent of Shawn's injuries. They had cut off Shawn's shirt and returned to applying pressure while trying to keep the dying man stable. "Keep pressure on that!" He yelled at the EMT with them who was checking out one of the wounds.

They were three minutes away from the hospital but Shawn was in bad shape. If pressure hadn't been applied to his wounds at the scene he would already be dead. "It looks like one of his lungs is punctured." The EMT stated as he pushed down.

"Great..." The paramedic knew they would be at the hospital before they could do much, and it would be difficult to give Shawn oxygen while he was on his stomach anyway.

"_Jules..."_ The small whisper surprised everyone. With Shawn's blood loss, he didn't have much of a chance at making it...let alone waking up, which is what he was doing now. Trying to take in a breath, Shawn's body was wracked with agonizing coughs, causing the medical team's grips to slip while applying pressure.

"Sedate him now!" The paramedic ordered and a syringe was readied.

Shawn's eyes fluttered open. They were glazed over and a very pale shade of their normal vibrant green. _"Where's Jules?" _He could barely get the words out, let alone breathe due to his injured lung.

In a softer voice the paramedic tried to comfort the injured man. "I'm not sure who you are talking about Mr. Spencer, but don't move, we need you to be still so we can help you."

_"Need to tell her..."_ Shawn didn't even react as the syringe pierced his skin but it looked to the paramedic like he was pained by something else besides the bullet wounds. _"I have to tell her I didn't mean it... what I said... was playing along."_

Sensing Shawn's distress but knowing any movement could worsen his condition the paramedic empathetically replied, "I'll tell her. Don't worry but you need to rest now."

The sedation was starting to take effect but it was obvious that Shawn was doing everything he could to fight it. He winced and gasped as he squirmed under the pressure of so many hands, and the medication that was rapidly causing him to lose consciousness. He didn't know if this was the last time he woke up, so he had to get out what he wanted to say. _"Tell her..."_ His eyes closed despite his struggles. _"I love her."_ The last part was breathy and almost inaudible as the tension left Shawn's body and he slumped into the gurney.

"Wow, this is one tough guy." The paramedic stated as he finished hooking up an IV and administered fluids. He got agreeing nods from the rest of the team. The atmosphere in the ambulance was still urgent, but since they realized Shawn was well enough to wake up, it was a lot more hopeful. That was until the alarms started going off just as they were pulling into the emergency room.

"What the heck? Wasn't he doing ok a minute ago?" The EMT asked worriedly.

The paramedic's eyes shot to the heart monitor and noticed Shawn's blood pressure was dropping fast even though his heartbeat was speeding up. "He's gone Tachy! Get a crash cart handy in case he..." More alarms sounded and Shawn's heartbeat became irregular. "Ok people we need a defib right now! He needs to be turned over."

"We can't do that! He'll bleed out!" One of the other paramedic's argued as the back of the ambulance opened and the hospital staff started to grab Shawn and the machines out of it.

"It's not like we have a choice at this point!" The paramedic turned to the arriving emergency room staff and started explaining the situation, the hospital staff had been updated on his original condition from the road but needed to know what happened just before pulling in. "... then we sedated him and he started having a tachycardia a minute ago. 30 seconds ago his rhythm became irregular and he needs defibrillation now! Get him on his back and hook up an AED." The staff nodded but decided it was best to get him in and to a room first so they had more room and could control how much Shawn would bleed out when they flipped him, figuring the wait was worth the risk.

Once in the room, the small defibrillator machine was brought in and the staff flipped Shawn over so they could hook it up. "Crap." One of the emergency room staff cursed as they saw his chest scar. "Did anyone know he was a heart patient?"

"No one said anything to me at the scene." The paramedic admitted. If he had known he wouldn't have sedated Shawn so much, especially after his heart was being put through the ringer from blood loss already. He felt horrible that he may have been the cause of the current heart problem.

The same emergency room staff pointed at a nurse, "I want Shawn Spencer's medical history five minutes ago!" The nurse nodded and ran out of the room as the doctors started to work on saving the psychic detective's life.

* * *

**End Notes: I had to put Woody in there. He is so delightfully inappropriate and you gotta love his childlike glee when he is around bodies...or potential bodies.**


	4. Shawn's History of Violence

**Author's Notes: There are a few episode spoilers in this one because I had to put Shawn's medical history together so here goes. **

**Spoilers for Season 1 **Episode 2**, Season 3 **Episode 11 and 12**, Season 4 **Episode 6, 9, and 12**, Season 5 **Episode 4,** and Season 6 **Episode 11**. *Whew* That being said. I hope you enjoy the chapter and thanks to all who read and reviewed.**

* * *

By the time Henry had driven to the hospital, Juliet had taken a turn for the worse. He had figured the adrenaline from the situation had worn off and now she was having a tough time staying coherent or even awake. "Stay with me detective. Recite ten codes if you have to!" He prodded, while mentally kicking himself for not making sure another ambulance had come. However, with what had happened to Shawn, and the shock he was in, he hadn't been thinking clearly. Juliet groaned and shifted in the seat. "We're almost there sweetie." Henry tried reassuring her.

They parked by the emergency entrance just as Gus was getting out of his car a short ways away. The younger man ran up to the pair looking apprehensive. "She doesn't look good. Need me to help you get her inside?"

Juliet had started to mumble and sagged against Henry. "Get the doors." Henry commanded and picked Juliet up and carried her in bridal style. He may be getting old, but he was still fit and strong. As soon as he got her in his arms Juliet lost consciousness all together. As Gus held the doors Henry practically ran into the emergency room. "We need some help here!"

Two nurses and a doctor ran up to them. "What is going on?" One of the nurses asked.

"Her name is Juliet O'Hara. She is a detective that was involved in an incident about 45 minutes ago. She said she was hit in the head." Henry explained.

The nurses called for a stretcher and the doctor felt around her head and there was a soft spot on the back of it. The doctor looked up and asked, "Why didn't you call for an ambulance?"

"The ambulance that came to the scene took away my son, he had been shot." Henry took a steadying breath before continuing. "She was fine until a few minutes ago when she started to lose consciousness again." Both Henry and Gus were practically wringing their hands with worry.

Finally, the stretcher got there and Juliet was lifted onto it. "Get her an x-ray right away. We need to know how bad her head is."

One of the nurses shook her head. "There is someone already in there. It will be a couple minutes."

"Tell them it is an emergency and to hold off on the other person." The doctor ordered.

The nurse left for a few seconds and returned with a troubled look. "They can't move the patient out. They are doing an emergency x-ray for bullet removal." Henry and Gus looked at each other. That had to be Shawn.

Frustrated the doctor said, "Just get me an image of her head now! MRI her if you have to!" The nurse nodded and rolled Juliet down the hallway at a quick pace.

Gus knew the doctor's concern had escalated after touching Juliet's head so there had to be something seriously wrong. "Doctor, what is it? Does she have a concussion?"

"I can't tell you much yet, but from what I have felt she may have a fractured skull. I didn't feel and indent but I need an image to work with." He looked down the hall at the retreating stretcher and excused himself from the pair.

Once his charge was taken care of, Henry seemed to go almost catatonic. He stared down the hallway, unmoving. Since Gus and Shawn were children, Henry had always been a rock in stressful situations but the prospect of losing his son and Juliet was too much to take.

Gus grabbed him by the shoulders and led him to a chair. "Come on, sit down for a second and I will ask about Shawn ok?" The older man nodded weakly and Gus headed up to the desk to ask about his friend.

* * *

Shawn's doctor couldn't believe what he was reading. While his patient had gone for x-rays before surgery he was given Shawn's medical history. It was a miracle that this man was even alive after some of the injuries he had sustained. Beyond the heart surgery as a child, and the various incidents as a teen, it seemed that the last seven years had the most activity on his medical history. In 2006 he had apparently been in a motorcycle crash and had sustained a dislocated knee and sprained wrist. Two years later he came in with a cracked skull and major concussion from being…the doctor's eyes widened…"pistol whipped." That same year he had suffered from smoke inhalation after being in an explosion.

The doctor shook his head and bit his lip as he read on; _Dislocated right shoulder_- from catching a falling dancer_, shot in the left shoulder_-while kidnapped and sustained major blood loss, s_plit lip requiring stitches and bruised ribs_-from a fight. "2009 was not his year." The doctor mumbled and continued reading; _Barely poisoned with Naphthalene_…he thought it weird that there was a "barely" in there… and finally, the newest entry was probably the most normal: _Appendectomy due to burst appendix_, followed by a note saying that his stitches had to be redone due to "strenuous activity."

"Who is this guy? James Bond?" The nurse who had been looking over his shoulder exclaimed.

That got a chuckle from the doctor, "He's had an interesting life lately it would seem."

Both looked up as Shawn, looking practically mummified with the amount of bandages around his torso, was wheeled in. The doctor quickly grabbed the images presented to him and put them on the lighted wall. It looked like the one that passed all the way through had fractured a rib as it ricocheted causing it to exit under his arm pit. The next one cracked a rib and came to a stop in his right lung but had at least traveled relatively straight. The third was the worst. It had traveled just barely left of his spine, shattering one vertebra and continuing into his diaphragm. "No wonder he was having so much trouble breathing." His doctor stated as he pointed it out to his team.

"Doctor?" One of the nurses took his attention away from the x-rays. "Apparently this man's girlfriend was just admitted with a severe head injury, and his father and best friend are in the lobby asking about him.

At the mention of his girlfriend, Shawn started stirring and opened his eyes a bit, making the doctor and half the team jump in surprise. "What the?"

One of the nurses explained that they were hesitant to sedate him again just in case he started having heart problems, so he had been semi-conscious since the sedation wore off. "He just doesn't seem to want to stay out." The nurse shrugged and patted Shawn's hand comfortingly. It seemed to work as Shawn had stopped squirming but they were able to discern one word from the groans. "_Jules_."

"Ok," The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to figure out what to do. "Start prepping him for surgery. I will go talk to his relatives and let them know the situation. Keep him comfortable." The group split up, each doing their assigned duties as the doctor reluctantly started heading for the waiting room.

* * *

Shawn slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't move and he could barely breathe. He felt like coughing but it was like something was sitting on his chest stopping him. He remembered waking up in the ambulance and asking about Juliet and thinking he wouldn't wake up again. He even gave the 'If I don't wake up speech.' So much for that. "Waking up again, that's a good sign right?" He tried to say but all that game out was a long moan. He could hear talking but it wasn't registering in his clouded mind. His next conscious thought was of someone grabbing his hand and squeezing it reassuringly, or at least he thought they were squeezing it. He definitely felt something touching his hand but the sensation was off somehow. "Jules?" he asked. Receiving no answer and before he could think about it any farther, his mind went fuzzy again and he slipped into a fretful unconsciousness.

* * *

Gus was pacing back and forth angrily and Henry had his head in his hands when Shawn's doctor approached. Both had thought their questions about Shawn were being brushed off and were showing their frustrations in different ways. Gus was furious and about to storm the ER himself and Henry had finally broken down completely and hadn't spoken or moved for the last ten minutes. Gus noticed the doctor's approach first and nudged Henry to get his attention.

The doctor approached with a sad smile and held out his hand. "Hello, you must be Shawn's father. I'm Doctor Straus, I will be doing your son's surgery today."

Henry, not even trying to compose himself, half heartedly shook the doctor's hand. Gus stepped forward, "Burton Guster sir. I'm Shawn's partner in our detective agency."

Shaking the black man's hand the doctor nodded. "Well that explains his medical history a bit." Taking a deep breath he started to explain the situation. "So far Shawn came in with three bullet wounds to his back. He started having heart problems after sedation which is why I requested his medical history so quickly. We wanted to know if there were any other conditions that would affect the surgery."

"He doesn't like talking about it. It was a pretty traumatic experience when we were kids." Gus explained.

"I understand. Like I said, the three bullet wounds were x-rayed and we found out a little more of the extent of his injuries." The doctor paused to give the two men a chance to process what he said.

Henry rubbed his face, trying to focus on what the doctor was saying. "Is my son going to die?" He asked gruffly.

"I'm sorry but it is still a possibility Mr. Spencer. He lost a lot of blood and there is risk of infection later." Gus turned away biting his lip hard. "The first bullet ricocheted and cracked his rib, following it to exit under his armpit. The third broke through a rib in his back and stopped after piercing his lung. It hasn't collapsed yet, which is a miracle but there may be complications later... but it is the third bullet that concerns me." Gus turned back around and put his hand on Henry's shoulder, seeing the man was shaking again.

The doctor continued, "He has been waking up on and off, which seems like a good thing at first but its concerning to me, especially with the bullet placement. It nicked his spine and broke one of his vertebrae in the center of his back before it came to rest in his diaphragm. Beyond having a punctured diaphragm we have the problem that your son's spinal cord may have been damaged. The pain he should be in would be enough to keep anyone out, but he keeps waking up. He seems to be able to move ok and he registered when someone grabbed his hand, but even if he recovers he may have some nerve damage for a long time."

"Oh my God Shawn." Gus exclaimed. Shawn, who was never able to stay still, loved sports and being active...even if he didn't like exercising, could be paralyzed.

Dr. Straus looked at the lobby clock. "I'm sorry but I have to get going. Your son is being prepped for surgery and I have to get ready too." He leaned over and looked Henry in the face. "Don't give up hope. I'll take care of your son." He smiled at Gus and headed back into the "Employees Only" area.

"Henry, I'm going to call Lassiter. Did you want to call the Chief and let her know?" Gus hoped giving Henry some kind of mission would break him from his shocked stupor. It was incredibly unnerving seeing him so defeated. Gus felt that way too but he refused to give up on his friends. "Hang in there guys." He prayed silently.

* * *

**End Notes: You didn't think I was done with the Juliet whump already did you? :D**


	5. Blood, Sweat, and Tears

**Author's Notes: Thanks so much for all the reviews! I stepped it up a notch for this one and it really earns it's teen rating for some mention of blood and gore. Just a warning.**

* * *

**Chapter 5- Blood, Sweat and Tears**

Immediately after Gus had called, Carlton ordered Woody and the other officers to take care of the crime scene before jumping in his Fusion and speeding to the hospital. Carlton banged his fist on his precious car's steering wheel in frustration. He knew better than to abandon his partner for a crime scene, but she had looked ok when she left.

A fractured skull. That is what the doctor said to Gus. The bile rose in Carlton's gut as he realized that the bloody mess of a bat that lowlife scum had used to bash his wife's head in was also used on his partner. If Juliet _had_ been hit with that bat a fractured skull would be the least of her worries. Gus had said that Shawn was no better and after he explained to Carlton all of Shawn's problems the detective didn't hold out much hope for the psychic.

It wasn't like Carlton was trying to be a downer about the situation but he was a realist. They might be able to patch Shawn up but the complications alone that could arise from those types of wounds were horrendous. The outlook wasn't good for either of them.

He pulled into the hospital less than ten minutes after taking the call and headed for the emergency room where Gus and Henry were waiting. He saw the pair sitting next to each other looking pale and exhausted and it was only two in the afternoon. Less than an hour and a half since it happened.

"You got here quick." Gus stated the obvious.

Ignoring the comment Carlton asked, "Did you hear anything else?"

Gus nodded, "They are both going into surgery. They found something on Juliet's MRI but they didn't tell us what."

Growling in frustration, Carlton pulled up a chair and sat next to Henry. In his awkward way he tried to comfort the older man. "Shawn is stubborn… he'll be fine."

Henry gave him an incredulous look. Not because he didn't hope that Shawn would be fine, but that Head Detective Carlton Lassiter was saying it. "Thanks." He said simply and they all sat for the next few hours waiting for any news about their loved ones.

No one really talked during that time. Whether it was Carlton who didn't say anything because he wasn't the type to talk out his feelings, or Henry, who didn't have the energy or will to talk, or Gus, who really wanted to talk but he was afraid of annoying Carlton who was already angry and had a gun. After a little while all of them realized, they didn't need to talk. Just their presence next to each other, knowing that they were there if needed, was enough.

* * *

Juliet's doctor was the first one out. Hopeful, all three men stood up, eager to hear how she was doing. Henry's optimism died when he saw the look on the doctor's face as he approached. "Hello, I know we met earlier but I never formally introduced myself. I'm Doctor Cumberland. I assume you want an update on Juliet O'Hara?"

All three men nodded and Carlton put his hand out. "Head Detective Carlton Lassiter, SBPD. Detective O'Hara is my partner. How is she?"

"After these gentlemen," He gestured to Henry and Gus, "Brought her in I had her get an MRI so we could see what damage was done to her head. They mentioned blunt force trauma and I felt that her head may have a fracture. When the MRI came back we noticed that besides the fracture she had a rapidly developing Epidural Hematoma."

"No." Gus breathed out and ran for the bathroom.

"Guster what…?" Carlton tried to stop him but he was already gone.

Henry finally had the presence to ask, "What is that?"

"It is when the dura, the lining of the brain, separates from the skull and starts to bleed into her brain causing it to swell. We had to cut open a portion of her skull to relieve the pressure. We think we caught it in time but we will see the extent of the damage once she wakes up. She is currently in a medically induced coma."

"What are her chances?" Lassiter, ever the blunt one, asked, even if he was afraid to hear the answer.

The doctor sighed. "I would say she has a 60% chance right now if everything stays stable."

Henry felt like he couldn't breathe. He sat down and rubbed his upper lip, almost mirroring his son's stress tic. "But... she was ok after it happened. She was just hit on the head right?"

"Henry." Lassiter interjected. "She was hit from behind with a baseball bat. The same one that..." He couldn't finish. He suddenly pictured O'Hara in the wife's place on the ground with her skull littering the shag carpet. Now he felt the urge to join Gus in the bathroom.

"Oh God no." Henry put his head in his hands.

Doctor Cumberland didn't know the situation but he could only guess by the reactions of the three men that the crime scene she had come from had been bad. "There is often a period of lucidity after the initial injury until the hematoma enlarges and cuts off communication, they often seem fine for up to a few hours afterwards depending on how critical it is. You saved her life by brining her in, you should be proud."

"I didn't save her life, my son Shawn did." Henry took a deep breath. "Can we see her?" Lassiter brightened at the statement, he was eager to see Juliet as well.

Smiling the doctor replied, "Yes, you can go in. Just don't stay too long. We need to be able to check on her frequently and can't have you in the way."

Both men nodded in understanding and looked over and saw Gus was slowly exiting the bathroom. Henry waved him over as Carlton said, "Lead the way doctor."

* * *

Shawn opened his eyes. Consciousness for him was instant, almost like someone flipped a switch and turned on the world. He blinked, trying to bring things into focus before instinctively taking stock of what was going on around him. His eyes locked on the IV bags hanging near the bed. Saline, morphine, blood. Looking around the room he saw that it was empty and was a bit disappointed at that fact. "_Where is everyone?"_ He wondered.

His features scrunched as he tried to remember what brought him here, his mind flashed back to something the doctors had said last time he came to, "_Apparently this man's girlfriend was just admitted with a severe head injury._"

"Oh man. Jules." He groaned and started coughing. After they subsided he grumbled, "Note to self..." Shawn breathed heavily. "...slow breaths." His eyes went to his chest and he saw it was bandaged. He closed his eyes and tried to visualize what had happened to him. He remembered hearing gunfire and figured he had been hit. By the look of the blood on his bandage, it had only been once, almost in the center of his chest, right in line with his heart surgery scar. "Well... at least... it will be easy... to hide..." He reasoned.

Shawn attempted to sit up. He wasn't in much pain, he only felt a bit of pressure on his chest, but he blamed that on the morphine and laying down for God knows how long. He realized he must have slept on his arms wrong too because they felt like they had fallen asleep. He waved them around trying to get the numbness out but after a few shakes of his hand, it didn't seem to be working.

"Damn it." He cursed and continued to push himself up. The pressure sensation in his back increased. Shawn figured he would need to work the kinks out of that too. Turning his body so his legs were dangling off the side of the bed, Shawn debated calling the nurse for help. He shook his head, realizing that if Juliet was in the hospital, they would probably give him some kind of bullshit excuse as to how he wouldn't be able to see her until he or she felt better and he needed to see her _now._

As he gingerly pushed himself off the bed and tried standing, he felt that his legs had the same sensation his hands did, making it really uncomfortable and hard to walk. He took a step and faltered, quickly raising his left arm and grabbing the IV. Shawn hissed as a stinging pain briefly radiated down his left side followed by the same pressure sensation that had been plaguing him since waking up. "Ow." He grumbled, thinking he'd just twinged his arm.

Gripping the IV with both hands, he slowly walked to the wall with a robe. As he was putting it on he noticed what had pained him before. There was a spot of blood under his arm pit. _"Can't be that bad or it would hurt more."_ He told himself and continued to put the robe on.

Shawn started panting after just that small amount of exertion. It was starting to get hard to breathe. He would have to take it slower if he wanted to find Juliet. He really wanted to say he was sorry for what he said at the house. Even if it was an act he was ashamed that he even said it and he hoped she would forgive him. If only he could think straight. It was one reason that Shawn hated narcotic and opiate pain killers. It messed too much with his mind.

Shaking his head and the grogginess from the morphine away, Shawn peeked out of the room and made sure the coast was clear. He had to duck back in as a nurse with a clip board passed the room. Popping his head out again he caught a glimpse of her clip board. She was making rounds to some of the rooms and the fourth one down... Juliet O'Hara. Room 355.

"Yes!" Shawn quietly cheered. If she was in a room, it meant she was alive. Exiting the room he checked out the number and saw he was in room 210. "One floor up then."

Leaning heavily on the IV rack he started his slow shuffle down the hallway. As he walked, he thought about what could be wrong with her. Had the bastard shot her? He distinctly remembered three shots, and if he was only hit once and apparently she had a head wound. "_Oh my God... was she shot in the head?"_ He stopped himself from thinking the worst. He had to see her, make sure she was alright. Then he would be able to rest easier.

"HEY STOP!" A voice shouted behind him, when he was almost to the elevator. Shawn panicked and picked up the pace. The pressure on his back was increasing to an almost painful level, past the dull ache he had been feeling before. He gritted his teeth and stumbled into the elevator. He spun around and pressed the 3 frantically. The voice yelled again, "NO! WAIT YOU'RE..." The doors closed and cut off whatever the person was saying.

Shawn slumped against the elevator, struggling to catch his breath but going into a coughing fit instead. He gripped the stand and the side of the elevator to keep upright. The elevator doors opened a moment later and he did his best to compose himself as he stepped out. The nurse at the ward desk looked up momentarily and gave him a smile.

He took a chance, figuring it was worth the risk of discovery to be able to find Juliet's room faster. He was getting so tired. Smiling he asked, "Which way to room 355?" Shawn was surprised at how normal he managed to sound.

The nurse pointed. "Just down the hallway to your left five doors."

"Thanks." Shawn turned around and ambled weakly down the hallway.

"Oh my GOD!" The nurse exclaimed. Shawn looked back to the desk and saw she was dialing the phone. "We need a doctor up here right away!" Shawn turned back around and did his best to hurry. He didn't want to be caught now... not when he was so close.

Four doors away... the nurse was calling after him to stop.

Three doors away...Shawn started hearing raised voices from one of the rooms ahead of him. He recognized them, didn't he?

Two doors away... His eyes started to droop. He gripped the stand harder, his hand still numb but he had to make it.

One door away... "...hang in their partner... you'll be fine." Shawn perked up at the voice as he reached the doorway of Juliet's room.

Shawn could hear footsteps running down the hallway behind him, but it didn't matter. He was here. Turning the corner to stand in the doorway, he saw that his dad, Gus and Carlton were all there standing at Juliet's side. Smiling, Shawn thought, _"No wonder they hadn't been in my room."_ His eyes landed on Juliet who had a bandage wrapped around her head and obviously some of her hair was shaved off.

Gus was currently holding her hand, "Don't worry Juliet, we will all be here for you." He spoke to her sleeping form.

Shawn, breathing heavily, stated with a smirk, "Then how come...no one invited...me?"

All three men turned around in shocked horror. Shawn was standing in the doorway sweating and shaking. He seemed to be staring at Juliet even though he had just spoken to the others in the room. It was obvious to everyone he was barely standing.

"How the hell did you get up here Spencer?!" Carlton asked disbelievingly.

Shawn opened his mouth to reply but all that came out were body wracking coughs. Not having the support of a wall this time, Shawn pitched forward to his knees, knocking down the IV stand and splattering their contents on the floor. He covered his mouth but when he brought his hand away, it was covered in red. "Dad?" He asked shakily, looking up at his father before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell forward onto his stomach.

Finally able to see the back of Shawn, Henry gasped at the blood which had completely saturated Shawn's hospital gown and had begun to drip down his legs and left bloody footprints as he walked. The trip there had obviously torn his stitches from his surgery. Henry rushed to his son's side and screamed for a doctor. He didn't have to wait long as they were already heading down the hallway after two nurses reported that a bloody patient was walking the hallways.

"Get a cart!" One of the nurses yelled and Shawn's doctor, Dr. Straus ran up to him.

"Someone help me put some pressure on these!" He shouted. Gus grabbed some towels from the bathroom and handed them to the doctor and Henry before turning around, trying to hold in his guts.

Henry looked at the doctor with a burning fury, "What the hell? You didn't tell me Shawn was out of surgery?"

"He's been out for less than fifteen minutes. I left Shawn alone for less than five minutes when I went to find you. I heard you were up here and figured I would tell you when you came back down. Next thing I know, Shawn is gone and I am getting reports of a bloody man wandering the halls."

"But that's impossible. There is no way he would have been able to bear that much pain, or have been stupid enough to think he could walk here by himself. I know my son, he is stubborn but not stupid." Henry gritted his teeth.

Dr. Straus shook his head. "I have no idea what happened it may have something to do with his damaged nerves. We have to get him into surgery again to see what he did to himself on the way up here and figure out what is going on."

The cart had finally come and even though Shawn was lifted onto it and rushed off, Henry stayed kneeling on the ground. Hanging his head, Henry looked at his blood soaked hands as tears ran down his face.

Carlton saw this and knelt next to him, putting his arm around the older man. "Henry, I'm sorry this happened. All of this." Helping him to his feet, they headed into the bathroom to get cleaned up. Both angry that for the second time in only a few hours, Henry had to wonder whether his son was going to survive.

* * *

**END NOTES: Man those guys just keep getting torn to bits don't they? :D **


	6. Not So Painful Truths

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: I get around to revealing a bit of what is going on with Shawn and Juliet's injuries in this one, but it is just the tip of the iceberg.**

* * *

**Chapter 6- Not So Painful Truths**

Night had fallen, but the small group in the hospital room barely noticed. While Juliet slept and they waited, Shawn was in his third round of surgery. His little trip ended up collapsing his injured lung as well as ripping almost all of his stitches out, requiring a second surgery and a lot of blood transfusions to fix. Dr. Straus had been out once more to let them know that once Shawn woke up they would test his reflexes and see what was going on with his nerve injuries.

In order to stop the same situation from happening again, Henry had suggested to the doctors that Juliet and Shawn share the same room. "That way they don't end up killing themselves trying to find each other." Henry had reasoned. Both Dr. Straus and Juliet's doctor, Dr. Cumberland, agreed and she was moved to the second floor.

A few officers, including Buzz McNab, and Chief Karen Vick had shown up at the hospital to visit after their shifts. Henry, Gus and Carlton however, had not left since arriving just after noon so the three men were beyond exhausted with worry. So when Buzz had offered to make a food run, they all graciously accepted.

Just as the visitors had arrived, Henry was just finishing up a call with his ex-wife. She had cried when he told her the extent of Shawn and Juliet's injuries, but she was in Spain and it would take at least a couple days to get to Santa Barbara. However, just the thought of her being on her way was a comfort to the weary Henry.

Karen sat next to the men as they waited for their supper and watched over her severely injured detective. Some complications had arisen in the last couple hours and Juliet had experienced a few small seizures due to the swelling in her brain. It did nothing to ease everyone's apprehension, but the doctor said once the swelling went down they should stop. Until then they just had to make her as comfortable as possible until they passed.

Looking over at Henry and Gus, who had nodded off a few minutes before, Karen mused at how peaceful they were. She regretted the fact that tomorrow she would have to get each of their statements about the incident. It had been traumatic for everyone, but more so for the three men next to her.

The problem for Karen was, no one really knew anything about what happened before Henry arrived except for Shawn and Juliet. It was a huge narrative hole that she was very curious about, but it would have to wait either of them were conscious. Which, if the doctors were right, would be a while.

Carlton turned towards Karen and seeing the pensive look on her features, asked, "What are you thinking Chief?"

"Wondering when Juliet and Shawn will wake up." She said simply, trying not to show her worry.

The detective nodded. He was wondering the same thing but after watching what happened to Shawn earlier, he hoped it wouldn't be soon. The man needed a lot of rest after what he went through and even though Carlton would never admit it, he had a new respect for Shawn's fortitude.

Buzz came back with food minutes later asking curiously, "So what is going on with Shawn? Did anything happen since I left?" Buzz was still a bit in the dark as to what had happened since Shawn and Juliet had been brought in, but what he had heard was almost unbelievable.

"No, but he should be out of surgery soon. The doctor said a couple hours, and it's been a couple hours." Henry stated as he took a sip of his soda. "Kid is going to be the death of me one day."

Gus made an agreeing "Humph." noise as he dug into his own meal. He hadn't eaten since lunch and he figured it didn't count anymore anyway with as many times as he had vomited that afternoon.

* * *

It was almost an hour later when Shawn was wheeled in. Carlton noted thankfully that he was asleep. Dr. Straus had mentioned that they were going to try a different form of sedation that would hopefully knock Shawn out for a while and it looked like it was working.

Buzz and Karen gasped at the condition Shawn was in. The consultant was attached to tons of machines and had an oxygen mask on that seemed to be helping him breathe. He was bandaged tightly all around his torso with a tube tapped into his lung on his right side. His pallor was also extremely pale. He was nowhere near the lively man they were used to. "Holy cow Shawn." Buzz exclaimed.

Henry was instantly on his feet and at his son's side as soon as the bed stopped rolling. "How did everything go?"

Dr. Straus wiped some sweat off his face. He looked just as tired as everyone else. "Good. We just have to watch out for infection now with his exacerbated wounds. We gave him a good round of antibiotics so all we can do is wait." A couple nurses came in and the doctor motioned for them to approach Shawn's bed. They took out some restraints and proceeded to secure his hands and feet gently to the bed.

"Wait a minute!" Gus indignantly protested. "Why are you locking him up?"

"We don't want him to get up and move around." Dr. Straus explained. "I don't know if his body will be able to survive blood loss like that again. He isn't a prisoner, but hopefully they will give him a bit of time to think before he goes on another unscheduled walkabout."

Karen stood and reached out her hand to the doctor, "Thank you for taking such good care of my consultant."

Dr. Straus smiled, "Your welcome. I will be back tomorrow morning to check on Shawn. Until then I suggest you all get some sleep. You can't be there for him if you are exhausted." The group nodded in agreement and he left the room, presumably to get some shut eye himself.

"Detective Lassiter I suggest you go home and get some rest like the doctor said. You have work tomorrow." Carlton opened his mouth to protest but Karen stopped him, "I am sure Henry or Mr. Guster will contact us if anything should happen." She gave both men a look that said they had better.

Henry made a shooing motion with his hand. "Go home Lassiter, I'll take watch. You go too Gus. You have your route in the morning and I know damn well Shawn has made you miss too much work already."

With a little more convincing and prodding Henry finally got everyone to clear out of the room. He had been surrounded by people since bursting in on that horrible and grizzly scene with a madman pointing a gun at his son's fiancé's head. He had been happy enough to shoot that man straight through the brain, but he would have to be a madman himself to not be affected by taking a life.

With no one around to see, Henry finally was able to let his emotions reign. He grabbed Shawn's hand in both of his and cried, well aware that his son and Juliet were not out of the woods yet. He absolutely couldn't bear the thought of losing either of them. Juliet was close as she could be to becoming official family, his son just had to work up the nerve to ask her. Henry wouldn't have been much of a detective if he didn't notice his mother's ring was missing within a day of Shawn grabbing it. He had been waiting almost a year to see his son bound into the house announcing that Juliet would be his wife and because of one asshole with a gun, that dream could be shattered forever.

Henry's eyelids started to slide closed and he let them. The morning would probably bring more worries but for now he allowed himself the luxury of a little bit of shut eye. _Besides Shawn won't wake up for a while._ Henry thought as his breathing evened out and his hand slid limply out of Shawn's hand and dangled at his side.

* * *

Bright hazel eyes opened slowly as the after the last bits of the sedative's effects wore off. Shawn winced at the light streaming through the windows. His head ached worse than a five day drinking binge hangover. He had an ill-fated Mexican vacation to blame for that comparison.

There was also an oxygen mask over his face, forcing him to take a breath every few seconds making talking almost impossible. He attempted to reach up and pull it off but found he was unable to move. He raised his head and looked down, noticing that his wrists and ankles were strapped to the bed, making it so he couldn't move.

"Wha?" Shawn's mind was still cloudy with pain killers so he couldn't figure out why anyone would want to secure him to a bed. _Am I in the nut hut again?_ His memory flashed back to being strapped down to his bed while under cover at an insane asylum. He moved his hand and got that same oddly detached and numb feeling he had earlier, it was also in his legs and feet.

Looking to his left, Shawn saw that his dad was sitting next to him, limply slumped in the room's recliner, and to his right… was Juliet. Seeing her brought everything back. The shooting, the desperate trek to see if she was alright, and finally finding her with that ugly bandage on her head. He shut his eyes and held back tears. He tried to save her but he wasn't fast enough.

As Shawn swiveled his head around he realized the semi-uncomfortable pressure between his shoulder blades was back along with the numbness. It was also getting a bit disconcerting to him that he was unable to feel the straps that were currently binding him to the bed.

Doing his best to focus his drug addled brain on Juliet rather than focus on his own discomfort, he tried to piece together how badly she was hurt. _She has a large bandage around her head so obvious head wound._ He reasoned. _Is that a drainage tube, coming out of her head?_ Shawn swallowed hard, drainage tubes were never a good thing no matter where they came out of. _Speaking of drainage tubes…_ he looked down and noticed he had one of his own, jutting out from his side. "_We're a hot mess aren't we Jules?_" he thought and gave a breathy laugh that morphed into coughing.

He turned towards his dad and was just about to wake him up when a commotion from Juliet's bed caught his attention. She had risen off the bed slightly and her eyes had opened to slits and moved back and forth under her lids. Shawn got excited that she was waking up "Jules?" He mumbled through the mask. Suddenly her arms and legs started moving sporadically followed by choking sounds and body tremors. He realized she was having a seizure. _Oh God is she dying!?_ "Dad!" He tried shouting but it was muffled and weak.

Realizing that shouting wasn't going to work, he then tried to push the nurse call button but couldn't reach it with the straps on. Shawn knew he had to get them off, now. He fiercely wiggled his arm and grunted, twisting and turning his right wrist every which way. Finally, with a long pull he wretched his arm loose and mashed the nurse call button sending a loud beep through the room which woke Henry up.

"Shawn?" He saw that his son was awake and practically tearing the restraints off the bed and already had an arm loose. "What's wrong?" He finally saw where his son was looking a second later; Juliet was having another seizure, a bad one by the looks of it and Shawn, having just woken up had no clue what was going on. Henry jumped up and tried to stop Shawn from hurting himself. "Kid you need to calm down!" He heard Shawn trying to say something through the oxygen mask so he moved it off his face.

"Get these off!" *Cough* "She needs me!" Shawn struggled more.

"Shawn Henry Spencer, stop and listen!" Henry hollered practically in Shawn's face. The glare he received in response was murderous but the young man quit struggling. "Now the nurses are on their way and will help Juliet. The doctor said this would happen until the swelling went down and you having a fit about it isn't going to help her." The last thing Henry wanted to do was yell at his critically injured son, but there was no other option.

Shawn closed his eyes and turned away from the sight of his girlfriend seizing. That was not something he wanted stuck in his head for the rest of his life. The nurses ran in the room a moment later, thankfully blocking her from view. Opening his eyes Shawn looked at the restraints then at his dad demanding, "Get these-*Gasp*- off me."

Henry shook his head, "Not until I'm sure you aren't going to do anything stupid. Your last trip almost killed you. What were you thinking Shawn? You were shot and you just go wandering the halls willy nilly?"

Speaking through gritted teeth Shawn choked out, "I had to… I _needed _to see her." Tears started forming in his eyes, both from the struggle to breathe and seeing Juliet in such a horrible state. It was enough to make Henry feel like a complete ass-hat for scolding him. "What *Cough* happened to..."

Henry cut him off, getting what he wanted to know. "The bastard hit her in the back of the head with a baseball bat. She has bleeding in her skull. Until the swelling goes down she will be having a few seizures like this one."

Shawn winced in sympathy. Getting hit on the head was no picnic, he would know. His brow furrowed in confusion, and he pressed his hand to the wound on his chest. "Got shot?"

Henry pointed to the front of Shawn's chest. "That isn't a bullet hole Shawn. They had to dig one of the bullets out of the front. That is what that is from." His son's eyes widened at the news. He had assumed he was just shot once in the torso. "You were shot three times in the back. You barely made it kid."

He leaned back and tried to take in what his dad had told him. "Doesn't hurt. He wiggled a bit to accentuate his statement and felt the same tight pressure as before. "Stiff. Hard to breathe."

Their conversation halted when one of the nurses walked away from Juliet and approached them. "She should be fine for now. Let me know if anything changes."

"Ok, thanks." Henry rubbed the top of his head and glanced down to Shawn's restraints. A small spreading red stain was developing around the still bound wrist and he noticed for the first time how much skin Shawn took off the one he did get out. "Nurse! Help me get these off!" He started undoing the straps and Shawn watched with wide eyes as they revealed skinned and cut up appendages. "Do you even feel this Shawn?" He showed Shawn his own wrist and touched the raw skin. It wasn't life threatening but it should have put him in a lot of pain, but it seemed like Shawn didn't even realize it happened. Not even morphine can do that.

The nurse figured it out too. "I'm going to see if the doctor is here yet." She made her strategic exit leaving both Spencers in an awkward silence.

Shawn stared at his wrists, and was genuinely afraid. "What is it?" He wheezed out.

"I don't know," Henry stated gently holding one of his son's injured wrists. "But damn it we are going to find out."


	7. I'm Sensing Something

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry about the slow update guys. Being sick is not conductive to creativity. Thanks for all the reviews and the patience!**

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**Chapter 7- I'm Sensing Something**

That afternoon, Henry paced the floor nervously. The doctor was unable to see Shawn till later that evening and the wait was nerve-wracking. It didn't help that Shawn's mental state was slowly deteriorating since he had woken up. Glancing over at his son, Henry saw Shawn was currently counting the lines on his knuckles.

"One... two... three... three..." Shawn's brow scrunched and he looked puzzled for a moment before his expression brightened and he continued. "Oh! Eight... six..." Henry would have thought Shawn's actions were funny if they weren't so concerning.

Fifteen minutes later, Gus hurried in the room. Henry had called him earlier to let him know Shawn was awake and had injured himself again. Gus desperately wanted to be there right then, but he was unable to leave work at the time. "Hey, how is he doing?"

"Gus, thank God." Henry said, relieved at the reprieve he was about to receive. "I need to go get some coffee. Could you watch him for a few minutes?"

Gus agreed, even though he was suspicious at Henry's quick exit. He did want to see how Shawn was doing so he didn't mind much. "Go ahead. I'll keep an eye on him."

Henry was out the door in a flash, the need for caffeine temporarily taking over his worry for his son.

Gus turned towards Shawn, who didn't even seem to realize his friend had entered the room. "Hey Shawn, how's it going?"

Shawn looked woozily up at Gus and waved feebly. "Hey buddy. What are... you doing here? Thought... you had...*cough* work."

"Shawn, it's almost 5pm. I did go to work." Gus was a bit confused at the question.

"Oh hey." Shawn exclaimed. "Wanna see... something cool?"

Rolling his eyes, Gus relented and took the bait. "Ok Shawn. What's cool?"

"Punch me... in the arm." Shawn was wracked by a few coughs but once finished looked up at Gus expectantly.

Gus leveled a glare at his friend. "I'm not going to punch you in the arm Shawn."

Shawn gave his friend the most pathetic pout he could manage and whined, "It will...be fun. Trust me."

Gus snapped, "I'm not going to Shawn. You should see yourself. You look horrible!"

Smiling, Shawn waved him off, "Aw, you're just...sayin' that."

Gus' brow scrunched "What? It wasn't a compliment..."

"If you don't..." Shawn coughed and took a few ragged breaths. Gus could see just talking was wearing him out. "I'll tell everyone...about your...Rainbow Bright fetish."

"I don't have a Rainbow Bright fetish Shawn."

Shawn's eyes narrowed and he gave Gus a wicked grin. "Just saying it... will make people...wonder."

Knowing Shawn would keep his threat, Gus grimaced and muttered as he walked closer to the bedside. He gave the prone man a light punch on the arm.

Looking affronted, Shawn raised his voice. "Like you...mean it...Rainbow boy."

Gus grit his teeth. _If Shawn wants to be in pain, fine._ He thought before winding up and socking Shawn in the arm full force. He felt bad afterwards but Shawn didn't even flinch at the blow. Gus' jaw dropped and he looked at his fist, which was stinging from the punch.

"Don't you wish... you had super...powers." Shawn let out a breathy laugh.

Henry walked in on the scene of Shawn laughing and Gus staring at his fist and put two and two together. "He got you to punch him didn't he?" Shawn had mentioned it once or twice, or ten times since realizing his condition.

Shawn had leaned back in the bed and was currently humming to himself, once again oblivious to the other two in the room.

"There is something really wrong with Shawn." Gus stated the obvious. Henry was about to say so when Gus continued. "If he isn't feeling pain, why is he so drugged up?"

Pausing and considering Gus' words, Henry realized he was right. Shawn shouldn't be in such a bad condition medication wise. His eyes narrowed and he noticed the self administration button for the morphine was within Shawn's reach. He walked up to the bed and leaned over his son, trying to look into his eyes when Shawn grabbed his face and gave him a slobbery kiss. "Hey beautiful..."

Henry flailed and pushed Shawn away, trying to avoid his injured wrists, "What the! Aahhh! Shawn!" Even as Henry pulled away, Shawn was still making kiss faces. "Shawn, focus!" Henry yelled in his son's face, trying to illicit some kind of sane reaction out of him.

Shawn's eye lids fluttered a bit and he seemed to realize who was in front of him. "Dad? Oh my God! UH!" He had just realized who he had kissed and his reaction caused another coughing fit.

Henry kept Shawn at arms length as he coughed and tried to keep his attention. "Shawn, how much morphine have you given yourself?" Shawn reached up and tried to squish his face. He pushed his son's arm out of the way and stated again, "Shawn, how much?"

Turning his head away from his father, Shawn stared at the still form of Juliet. A pained expression crossed his features. His lip started to tremble and he closed his eyes mumbling, "Not...enough." Before grabbing at the morphine button again.

Henry kept the button out of Shawn's reach and handed it to Gus, who put it on the table next to him. Both of the men finally realized why Shawn had been self medicating more than he needed. He didn't want to deal with the mental anguish and guilt he was feeling with Juliet being hurt. "Shawn, look at me. You can't block out your feelings with drugs kid. She needs you to be strong right now. Can you be strong?"

Shawn frowned, his fathers words finally reaching him through the drugged haze he had managed to put himself in. "My fault. Should've been... faster...better. I...need her dad. She has to...be ok." His eyes were tearing up and he looked down, noticing just then that Gus had grabbed his hand and was crying too. "When is she...gonna wake up." Shawn's eyes started to drift closed. "Still have to...say sorry." He managed to get out before passing out from exhaustion.

Gus and Henry glanced over at Juliet's frail form and Henry put his hand on Shawn's brow. "We'll just have to wait and see kid."

* * *

Shawn watched and winced as sharp metal descended towards his foot. He was feeling a bit apprehensive; his distaste of pointy things notwithstanding, but it was more nervousness of what could be going on with his body. Shawn was grateful, however, that the doctor had gotten him off the morphine before doing his experiments. Not only did it help him think more clearly and make him realize what an idiot he had been for almost overdosing, it also wouldn't mess up the sensory tests the doctor was now performing. It had been a couple days since the incident and Shawn was more than a little embarrassed for what he did, but was still depressed that he couldn't do anything for his injured girlfriend but sit in a bed and wait.

"Can you feel this?" Doctor Straus poked the bottom of Shawn's foot hard.

Shawn nodded and wheezed out. "Can feel, pressure."

Gus, Henry and Carlton were watching from the sidelines, the latter holding Juliet's hand. Their collective worry for Shawn had increased with each test. Dr. Straus had started out with feathers and having Shawn blind folded. As kinky as it sounded, it was a good test to find out nerve sensitivity. Shawn had been incredibly ticklish since he was a baby, and he had not reacted at all. Each test moved up Shawn's body and it seemed the feeling came back around his upper shoulder blades where the bullet had hit his spine and traveled downward at an angle.

After the feather, the doctor started using his finger to poke and lightly touch Shawn's skin seeing which sensations he was feeling. Shawn could tell where the pokes were but couldn't feel any of the times the doctor lightly touched him. They were currently testing his pain receptors, with pin pricks, which was also coming up nil.

Dr. Straus rubbed his head. "I have a pretty good idea what is going on. I just have one more test to administer and we can do an EMG and MRI just to be sure. Give me a moment and I will be right back."

As the doctor left the room Henry turned to Gus and asked what an EMG was. "It is short for Electromyogram, it tests the spinal cord controls the muscles. I am sure he just wants to make sure there is no muscle weakness."

Shawn hung his head. "Dang. Was hoping... was a type of... sandwich. Like a BLT."

Carlton let out a snorty laugh just as Juliet's alarms started going off signaling another seizure. They were happening about once every couple hours now and each were equally disturbing. Shawn plugged his ears and closed his eyes tightly as the others called the nurses. A hand pulling his arm away from his head let him know that it was over.

"This one wasn't as bad as the last one Shawn. She may be getting better." Henry tried comforting his son. Shawn waved them off. He wasn't the one needing sympathy. He couldn't even feel that he was in pain. Carlton apparently agreed as he stayed next to his partner's side.

When Dr. Straus came back a few minutes later, he had on pot holders and was carrying something that looked like a metal wand.

"Are you going to touch Shawn with that?" Gus exclaimed, wondering if there was something besides a heated poker that Shawn could test this with.

"Yes, this is going to gauge how well Shawn can sense temperature." Dr. Straus put on his most charming smile and turned to Shawn. "If you would give me your hand."

Shawn pursed his lips and put his shaking hand towards the doctor, hoping that he knew what he was doing. Suddenly, Dr. Straus grabbed Shawn's hand and touched the object to his palm. Shawn instinctively gasped, Gus let out high pitched scream of terror, and Henry lunged to get his son's hand away from the offending object. "What the hell are you doing!?"

Dr. Straus let Shawn go and stepped back as Henry checked over his son's hand for damage. "What did you feel right then Shawn?" Dr. Straus asked.

Furrowing his brow, Shawn couldn't really say what he felt. It didn't hurt, but they had already established that was already a problem. "I don't know, heat I guess."

"Really?" The doctor cocked his head and touched the object on Henry's arm.

His eyes widened and Henry flinched back with a yelp. "Jesus that's cold!" He rubbed his arm where it touched to warm it up. "Why did you tell us it was hot?"

Shawn huffed out a frustrated breath, "He…didn't."

Smiling Dr. Straus put the metal rod down and took off the pot holder. "Shawn's right. I never said it was hot. You made that assumption yourself and did what I was hoping. You see, the brain tends to fill in missing information in the absence of senses. Which is why people put in a sound proof room hear phantom noises or people who cannot feel temperature," He put his hand on Shawn's shoulder, "fill in the blanks and feel what they think they should."

Gus looked disbelievingly at the doctor. "That's messed up."

"Indeed it is. It also confirms what I thought was going on." He turned towards Gus, "Mr. Burton, could you come here for a moment?"

Eyeing the doctor warily, he walked over and stood next to him. The doctor grabbed him and turned him around, his back facing Shawn and Henry. Pointing to Gus' spine he tried to explain what was going on with Shawn. "In the spinal cord there are two pathways. One communicating from the brain," He moved his finger from Gus' head down his back. "And one communicating from the body to the brain." He repeated the motion in reverse. "If the communication from the brain to the limbs gets cut off, you get someone who is paralyzed. They are unable to move because the connection to the muscles isn't there."

Henry nodded, "But Shawn isn't paralyzed. He can move just fine."

"Exactly! Which tells me it is the other pathway that is affected. The one that communicates from the body to the brain. I was testing Shawn because without that nerve pathway, the brain cannot get pain or temperature information from the body, effectively rendering him unable to feel pain of any kind." Dr. Straus explained.

"So... I really am... a super hero?" Shawn got an excited glimmer in his eye.

Carlton sighed exasperatedly, "Spencer you don't need any more 'super powers.' Your fake psychicness is all anyone can handle." Shawn glared at him for the comment.

However, Gus was the one to realize the seriousness of the situation."Shawn, you don't know what this will mean do you? You could break your leg and not know it!"

Shawn looked at him puzzled. "How would that be a bad thing?"

"Just because you can't feel it kid, doesn't mean it can't kill you." Henry explained in words his son would understand.

"You need to be very careful with this condition Shawn." Dr. Straus said seriously, "We'll discuss the other ramifications later but for now, don't move around too much. Like your father said, just because you can't feel it, doesn't mean you aren't injured. Now rest up. I'll see if we can get some of those images of your back within the next couple days."

"Thanks doc." Shawn smiled sadly and watched the doctor leave the room. He looked over at Carlton, giving him a mischievous look. "Hey Lassie... look on the bright side. If you ever shoot... me... I won't feel it."

Returning the smile, Carlton said sweetly. "Then I will be sure to aim for your head."

Shawn widened his eyes, hoping the detective was just joking, but he didn't have a lie detector to know for sure this time. He was about to make another snarky comment, really not wanting Carlton to have the last word, but froze instead noticing the detective's hand. Or more specifically, the hand in Carlton's hand. He squinted and saw the faintest movement of Juliet's fingers. Having unwillingly seen enough of her seizures for a life time, he knew this was not one of them. "Guys... look." He pointed at his girlfriend.

They all gaped as Juliet's eyes fluttered open. Her vision cleared and she looked around noticing all the worried faces, one in particular she had been wanting to see. Smiling she breathed out, "Shawn..."

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**END NOTES: I had to get Juliet awake! Was thinking about a better cliffhanger but figured sweet was the way to go. Aw...**


	8. While You Were Sleeping

**Author's Notes: This chapter is a lot more gushy than the others but I do not go any easier on the poor injured Shules in this one :D. **

**I do have a poll started as to which fic I am going to alternate posting with the "Born This Way" sequel called "Made This Way" and you guys get to vote! The poll is on my profile so let me know what you think!**

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**Chapter 8- While You Were Sleeping**

"Shawn…" Juliet's eyes flicked over her boyfriend. He was sitting up in bed. He looked pale and she winced in sympathy pains as she saw the various tubes he was hooked to. _Oh my God. It is all my fault._

Shawn's heart leapt into his throat as Juliet actually opened her eyes and said his name. Hundreds of amnesia based worst case scenarios had run through his mind the last few days, but all his fears were quelled by that one word. "Sweetie…hey." Shawn's smile was as big as ever.

Everyone else in the room was smiling too, even Carlton, who Juliet realized had been holding her hand when she woke up. "Welcome back O'Hara." Turning to Henry he stated, "Call the doctor." before turning his attention back to his partner.

"Ugg…I'm so tired." Juliet groaned as she tried to sit up. She put her hand to her head out of habit and felt bandages rather than hair. She moved her hand around and felt a tube jutting out of her head. "Oh my God." She suddenly understood all of the concerned looks she was receiving. Staring up into her partner's eyes she asked, "What happened?"

Shawn's fear of amnesia was suddenly back full force. He looked desperately at his dad, who was calling the nurses, and Gus, who was standing by his side, for help. He was still not able to talk very well due to his breathing restrictions, and there was so much he wanted to say to her right then.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Gus asked gently.

Juliet concentrated, "I remember Henry driving me to the hospital after Shawn was shot."

The men all let out sighs of relief. Apparently Shawn wasn't alone in his paranoia. Gus and Henry went on to explain to Juliet what had transpired over the past couple days. She teared-up at the mention of her boyfriend's desperate trek to see if she was ok. He had almost died twice that week for her.

Carlton then explained to the group what was going on with the background check on the shooter and the situation Juliet had walked into. It was one of the reasons he was here, but with everything that had gone on he hadn't had the chance to say anything about it. "The perp's name was Michael Andrews, he had been charged with spousal abuse before from an ex-wife and the department had received some complaints from his current wife's co-workers of possible abuse. She didn't want to press charges so there was nothing we could do at the time."

Shawn gave Carlton a confused look, "What do you mean... his name _was_?"

Henry glared at the detective. He had been wanting to tell Shawn that he had to kill the man when his son was feeling better, or at least without an audience. Shawn was never one to show his true emotions, especially to crowds, and Henry didn't want him holding any more in than he already was. "Shawn, when I came in he had just shot you and was pointing the gun at Juliet's head. I did what I had to do to protect you guys."

"Dad, you killed someone...for me?" Shawn was touched but saddened it had to come to that.

Carlton, in his socially awkward way, had a tendency to kill moments. This was no exception. "Technically he thought you were dead at the time so your father killed him for O'Hara."

"Thank you Detective Lassiter." Henry deadpanned.

Oblivious to what he had done wrong, Carlton saw the annoyed stares he was getting. "What?"

It was very fortuitous for the detective that the nurse arrived then with the doctor in tow. Dr. Cumberland was surprised and happy to see that Juliet was awake and lucid. "Detective, glad to see you're back with us." Taking out a pen light he walked up and tested her pupil dilation. After deeming it normal he checked the bandages around her head. "Do you know what happened to you?"

Juliet nodded but winced at the movement. "I remember getting hit, but the guys filled me in on what happened after."

"Ok, good. Now how are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"

She thought a moment. Something had kind of been bugging her since she got up. "I have a stuffy nose. I don't remember having a cold but I can't smell anything." She took a couple experimental sniffs.

"Oh, my poor sweetie." Shawn crooned in a sympathetic voice. "Nurse! Get my...lady love some... Dimetapp." The nurse just raised her eyebrow at him but did not move. Giving up, Shawn glanced at the doctor and narrowed his eyes. The doctor's expression was catching his attention. He was no longer smiling and was biting his lip slightly in a nervous expression.

"I'm sure it is nothing, but we will run some tests just to make sure." Dr. Cumberland gave Juliet a reassuring smile.

Shawn didn't buy it. "Doctor. My Jules...would want to know... if something's wrong." All the talking was making him tired and making it harder to breathe.

"Doctor, is there something you need to tell us?" Henry crossed his arms and stared at him.

Realizing they weren't going to let this go, he came clean. "I have a theory stemming from where she was hit. It was in the upper back of the head, in the parietal lobe, which controls among other things, sense of smell. I didn't want to say anything, because it is too early to tell."

The room was silent for a minute before Shawn suddenly exclaimed, "Dude! We are so like... that Gene Wilder movie!" He didn't think it was all that funny, but he was always one to try to break the tension.

Gus tried to figure out which one Shawn was talking about, "Haunted Honeymoon?"

Shawn waved his hand, "No no! The one... with Richard Pryor."

Gus considered for a moment, "Silver Streak?"

Shaking his head, Shawn clarified, "The one with... a blind guy and the... other is deaf."

"Oh yeah!" Gus said confidently, "Stir Crazy."

"The prison movie? _Really?_" Shawn looked at his friend incredulously. "What does a prison movie... have to do with... a blind and deaf guy?"

"I don't know every single Gene Wilder movie Shawn!" Gus pouted.

"See No Evil, Hear No Evil."

Everyone looked at Carlton in disbelief. "Did you really just get one of Shawn's obscure references?" Gus asked.

"I liked the interrogation scene." Carlton shrugged.

Shawn turned towards the doctor, "Okay... now that hell...has frozen over, is it... permanent?"

"If that's really what the problem is, once the swelling goes down it could come back partially, but in a lot of these cases it is permanent." Dr. Cumberland admitted sadly.

Juliet nodded, trying to appear strong. Sense of smell wasn't the worst thing she could have lost and she knew it. "How much longer will I have to be here?"

Realizing she was changing the subject, Dr. Cumberland went with it, "It shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks. We need to keep an eye on your head and without any other complications you should be able to leave." The doctor wrote a couple things on his chart. "I'll see what we can do about those tests. Until then get some rest and I will check up on you later."

* * *

After the doctor left, the company sat in silence for a while. Juliet had started to nod off and Gus was noticing the longing looks that Shawn was casting her way. Feeling the need to cover for his friend, he got up from the chair and stretched. "Guys, let's go get something to eat so they can rest a bit." Shawn looked over at him and realized what he was doing. He raised his fist weakly for a bump and Gus returned the gesture.

Henry nodded in agreement and walked over to Juliet. He took her hand gently and patted it. "It's good to have you back detective." Carlton gave his own sad smile to his partner and a curt nod to Shawn before joining the others in the hallway.

Juliet sighed and looked over at Shawn. His eyes were drifting closed but he smiled at her. _God, I never thought I would see that again_. Juliet thought. She had broken down and started mourning his death at the house, and here he was, awake and big as life.

"How are you doing?" Everyone had been so focused on her, she had not gotten the chance to ask what was going on with her boyfriend.

Shawn waved her off, "I feel fine."

"_Shawn..." _Juliet warned dangerously. She was not going to put up with is self depreciation this time. It was obvious he was having trouble breathing. Her detective skills had noticed the drainage tube beneath the blankets which could only have been from his lung. He was anything but fine.

Breaking under his girlfriend's glare, Shawn admitted how he was feeling, "It's not a big...deal really. Some blood loss...bullet hit a lung. I can't feel it though."

She looked at him disbelievingly. "You can't feel that you were shot?"

Shawn shook his head. "Spinal injury, cut off pain receptors...below my shoulders. I can feel... touch, but...we will have to... explore that more... later." Shawn waggled his eyebrows and Juliet blushed at the innuendo.

As Juliet watched. Shawn's smile disappeared and his features turned serious. "You know...at the house...what I said." He took a deep breath and looked down, his eyes unwilling to meet hers. "I didn't mean...any of it." Juliet realized that this is what Shawn had been wanting to talk about with her, everything else had just been him working up the nerve.

"I know. I saw how much it hurt you to say that. I know it was an act Shawn, and it worked. You _saved_ my life!"

His brow furrowed, "But, your poor head...your sense of smell..."

"Is nothing compared to being able to live Shawn. You were willing to die for me." Tears filled her eyes as she looked at her boyfriend. _He is the bravest man I have ever met._ She told herself. "I love you Shawn."

Shawn swallowed and cleared his throat, trying not to get emotional too. "I wish I could...kiss you on the mouth...right now, but I would... give you Henry kooties."

"What?" Juliet asked chuckling.

"You don't...want to know. Trust me." Shawn grinned back and yawned.

Juliet yawned too. Both realized if they were ever going to get out of this hospital, they would need their rest. "Goodnight Shawn."

"Goodnight John Boy." He joked and closed his eyes. Content that his Jules was back with him.

* * *

The next week was a flurry of tests, and more tests for each of them.

Unfortunately it was confirmed that Juliet had a condition known as "anosima," which was the inability to smell. due to her brain injury. This also affected her ability to really taste food, much to her disappointment. Shawn had tried to keep her spirits up by telling her that he would trade her because the hospital food was horrible. It also meant that Juliet was unable to taste all the chocolates and goodies her friends and co-workers were sending the two of them so Shawn did end up eating most of the sweets.

Shawn's doctor had found out that the nerve pathway in his back was not completely severed, but did have a lot of damage that would need time to repair itself. Dr. Straus explained that nerves grew very slowly and it could take months to a year before Shawn felt any difference. The psychic detective seemed to take it in stride but only a Juliet, who was pretending to be asleep, saw him cry about it that night.

During the second week, Shawn had started to sweat a lot and complained of being hot. It was found out that he had developed an infection in the bullet hole that had gone all the way though and out his arm pit. Even though he couldn't feel the pain, he was almost always asleep. It was like his body had wound down and decided it needed more rest. Gus and Henry figured it was because Shawn didn't have to worry about Juliet as much and he had de-stressed enough to really relax.

* * *

One evening, as Shawn lay sleeping through his latest bout of fever, Henry decided it was a good time to talk to Juliet. He had been wanting to speak to her alone for some time, but he had not had the chance with all the visitors and Shawn being in the same room. Now, with his son out cold he figured it was a good of time as ever.

Juliet was sitting up, watching over Shawn and reading a magazine. She smiled as the elder Spencer entered and put a finger to her lips. "Shhh. He's sleeping."

Henry stopped at Shawn's bedside and put a hand on his forehead. It was hot, but the doctor's said the antibiotics were helping and his body would just have to work the infection out. Pulling up a chair next to Juliet's bed, Henry stated, "I'm not here to talk to him. I came to speak to you."

Juliet was genuinely surprised. She had dealt with Henry in a professional sense a lot but before this had happened neither had spent much social time together. It was kind of nice though. She could see a lot of Shawn in him but could also see how the Spencer men would want to kill each other on a daily basis. With their contrast in personalities, she wondered how Shawn even survived to adulthood.

"What's up? Is there something wrong?" Juliet asked concerned.

Feeling bad that she would think something was wrong every time he spoke to her, Henry waved his hand, "No, everything is fine. I just wanted to talk to you about something." Juliet indicated she was listening and Henry continued. "Shawn is...different."

"Um, yeah I kinda know that." Juliet snorted in amusement.

"No, I mean emotionally. I don't think I have been the best role-model for him in that department," Henry admitted sadly, "and when Maddie left it seemed to emotionally stunt him a bit in the relationship department." Henry hoped he was getting this across right, "What I am getting at is, he likes you. He likes you a lot Juliet, and because of his nature he might not be able to express that as much as he wants to."

Juliet didn't know what to say. She had been on the receiving end of Shawn's anecdotal rants about cereal boxes, pictures and motorcycles and how they related to how much he cared about her, but she never thought of him actually being incapable of relaying how much he loved her. "Shawn has told me he has loved me before."

"How about when he wasn't upset and attached to a lie detector?" Henry smiled wryly. She thought back. He had said it in a lot of different ways but never used those exact words. Henry could see realization dawn on her. "Just because he doesn't say it, doesn't mean he doesn't feel it. Besides, any woman who can put up with him past the first date is a keeper in my book." Henry smiled and gave her a sideways hug.

She stifled her laugh, trying not to wake Shawn up, but he started to stir in the bed and groaned, "Nurse, I think I need a sponge bath..." before his head fell to the side and he continued sleeping.

This time both of them chuckled at Shawn. As they continued their conversation, Juliet wondered how she had gotten so lucky that he had picked her to love, even if he didn't use those exact words.

* * *

**End Notes: Only the epilogue left after this folks! I will get it out to you very soon but work has picked up for the summer so posts will be a little more sporadic.**

**Don't forget to vote on the poll! I am so excited to see what you guys pick!**


	9. Doing What's Necessary

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is it! Last chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed the expanding I did on the original one shot and thanks so much for all the great reviews!**

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**Chapter 9- Doing What's Necessary**

"Admit it, you can't beat me." Shawn taunted Gus as he ambled down the hospital hallway.

"Cut it out Shawn!" Gus complained, "You know that the doctors are going to put you back into a wheelchair if you keep this up!"

At the mention of the dreaded "wheelchair" Shawn slowed down and pouted. It wasn't like he could go all that fast using a walker anyway, but he sure tried. It didn't help that today was the day he was finally getting out of the hospital and he was incredibly hyped up.

The last four months hadn't exactly been painful physically, but that fact didn't make the time in the hospital any easier. After spending the first month in a bed with healing bullet wounds, he had to have physical therapy to get his muscles back into shape. So began a grueling regimen of high protein diet, that didn't include jerk chicken, and hours of exercise. Two things that Shawn really hated.

If it hadn't been for his support system, he didn't think he would have made it mentally. With his demeanor he went stir crazy before the first week was over. Luckily, Gus brought him new magazines every day and his dad kept him company when no one else was able to after Juliet had been discharged.

Juliet had gotten to go home on the third week. They had kept her for an extra week "just in case", but she had visited Shawn every day afterwards. Carlton had stopped by a couple times, claiming to be visiting Juliet, but when he just happened to show up after she was discharged, Shawn knew he cared. He made sure to rub it in his face a bit.

This was the day though. He was finally being allowed to go home. It felt weird to everyone who had gotten into a pretty solid routine over the months. Shawn had even been allowed to look at some cases, after a lot of begging and crying about boredom. The chief had brought those personally, and even though he didn't say so, it meant a lot to Shawn.

Shawn came to a halt at the hospital doors. His doctor was standing there waiting for him. "Now Shawn, you take care of yourself." Dr. Straus patted Shawn on the shoulder as he passed him in the hall. "Keep that brace on as much as possible okay? Don't forget your therapy sessions. I'll visit those when I can."

Shawn nodded but inwardly groaned. He was required to wear a back brace almost 24/7 to keep his back stable until it fully healed and every couple days he had to go to more physical therapy. Dr. Straus said it would help his nerves to re-grow faster. Like the rest of his lower torso, he wouldn't be able to tell if his back got re-injured without an x-ray so Dr. Straus figured they should be safe about it.

"Catch you later doc." Shawn shook his hand then Gus carefully helped him down the stairs to Henry waiting in the Blueberry. Shawn didn't use the walker because he couldn't move well, but because the numbness in his legs made him unsteady on his feet and prone to falling. Juliet once asked him how it felt, and he equated it to walking around after your foot fell asleep.

When he first started trying to move around, he sprained both his ankles at the same time without realizing it. So when they started physical therapy, they made sure to strengthen the muscles in his legs to be able to support him better. It had been like learning to walk all over again, but every time that Shawn wanted to quit he thought of Juliet, and what more he could have lost had he not made the decision to jump in front of the gun. He would pay the price over and over again if it meant keeping that beautiful woman with him for even a minute longer.

"We have everything set up at the house." Henry said as Shawn got in the vehicle. "Did you want to stop there first or the station?"

"I wanna go home and get a shower first. I don't want to show up at the station looking like a homeless dude and smelling like formaldehyde." It had been about a week since he shaved and his stubble was currently out of control.

Henry snorted. "Ok kid. Let's get you home."

Shawn nodded and gave his father a grateful look. Henry had been there for him whenever he needed and their relationship had grown considerably over his hospital stay. Sure they still argued like nobody's business, but Henry had the chance to see how strong his son had become and Shawn had the chance to see how much his father actually cared for him, though neither would still admit either of those facts.

"Kid, we're here." Henry got his son's attention because apparently Shawn was too lost in his thoughts to realize that they had arrived.

Looking out the door, Shawn saw Juliet was waiting for him. He was surprised because he thought she would be back at work. She had only been back on active duty for a couple weeks. "Jules! Shawn called out and struggled to get out of his seatbelt. His dexterity had gone a bit south after the accident. _Stupid numb hands. _He grumbled to himself.

Henry rolled his eyes and clicked the small button to let him out. "Don't forget your walker!" He called but Shawn ignored him and walked as fast as he could to her arms.

Shawn clasped Juliet to him and buried his face in her pixy cut hair. This was a big day for both of them. "I'm glad you're here sweetie."

"It's our house Shawn, where else would I be?" Juliet chuckled in his arms. Last month they had decided to move in together. It had been a huge step but both figured if each was willing to die for the other, they might as well live in the same place. For now they were sharing Juliet's apartment. Since Shawn was out of the hospital though, they could finally do some house hunting.

"I thought you would be at work. How were you able to tear yourself away from Lassie enough to get some time off?" Juliet had told Shawn all about how Carlton had been extremely protective of her and they had practically been attached at the hip while at work. If anyone even jostled her in the precinct they would feel his wrath. She thought it was cute but apparently Chief Vick had told the head detective to stop frightening the rookies.

"I told him I would keep you away from the station for one more day and he offered to do my workload." She admitted.

"Ahem." Gus cleared his throat as he and Henry were still standing off to the side waiting to bring Shawn's things inside.

Juliet's eyes widened and she apologized before helping bring some stuff in the house. Shawn obediently grabbed his walker and stuck some plastic bags on the handles, not wanting to feel like he couldn't help. As cool as it once sounded, being unable to feel pain was a lot more painful than he could have ever imagined.

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"Shawn sit! I got it."

"Jules, I am not an invalid. They me out because they figure I was able to do things for myself." He complained.

Juliet grabbed the food from the counter and plopped it in front of her boyfriend. "Well, what if I _wanted_ to get it for you?" She smiled slyly.

Shawn smirked. She was so cute when she was trying to be sexy. He had to admit that she did look pretty good with short hair. It had grown a lot since her surgery and you couldn't see the scar anymore though the new nest of blond curls. "And why pray tell would you want to get it for me?" He faked an innocent look.

"So I could do this…" Grabbing the fork from the table, she sat sideways on Shawn's lap and began to slowly and sensually feed him the spaghetti. They had so little alone time, even in the hospital, and now he was all hers.

Shawn smiled as the fork moved towards his mouth. "I guess I could use a little pampering still." As he took a bite he instantly regretted it. His taste buds rebelled and he started coughing while trying to reach for the water sitting on the table.

The moment ruined, Juliet exclaimed, "Oh! I'm sorry!" She slid off his lap and went to the fridge to go get him milk, which would work better. Juliet had taken to liking really spicy foods since her sense of smell was damaged and she had forgotten that Shawn had survived on mostly bland hospital food for the past few months along with sporadic fast food and fresh pineapple.

Gratefully grabbing the milk, Shawn downed it in a few gulps. He caught his breath and looked sheepishly up at Juliet. "Thanks Jules. Sorry."

She grabbed his hand and sighed. "It's ok. I understand. We have to get used to things don't we." Juliet felt the familiar guilt over his condition.

Knowing that look, Shawn put his finger on the side of her chin and moved her to face him. "Jules don't. How many times do I have to tell you it's not your fault."

Tears stung her eyes. "Until I believe it." She whispered quietly.

Shawn pushed back from the table and lifted her off her feet. One of the better side effects of the physical therapy was that Shawn had gained a lot of muscle and between the bad food and exercise he had lost a bit of weight as well.

Juliet started to panic as he stood with her. "Shawn, you're not supposed to carry heavy stuff." She realized she dissed herself as the words came out of her mouth.

Shawn laughed and took careful steps towards the bedroom. "You are not 'heavy stuff', and I want to do this for you Jules." He looked her in the eyes as he carried her. "I don't want you feeling guilty for the rest of your life. So what if I might not get feeling back? I don't mind." He shrugged as best he could with her in his arms. "I was willing to _die_ for you Jules and I would do the same thing, again and again, because I...can't lose you."

Juliet sniffed and hung on as they made it to the bed and lay her down and climbed in next to her. "I love you too Shawn."

Shawn kissed her on the mouth briefly before stating casually. "You know, one thing I am looking forward to Jules, is you helping me with my daily body checks." Juliet raised an eyebrow and he grinned devilishly. Because of his inability to feel pain, they had to check him over every day at the hospital to make sure he hadn't seriously cut or broken anything, especially his toes.

"Oh, so you think I am going to help you with that do you?" Juliet asked coy fully as he pulled her in for another smack on the lips.

With a slow smile Shawn grabbed her in a tight embrace. "I am expecting you to help me with more than just that woman..."

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The next day, Gus drove Shawn to the station. Chief Vick said that she had a case for them as soon as Shawn was feeling up to it. Of course, for Shawn, that meant the day after he got out of the hospital.

Shawn felt a bit embarrassed for people to see him with a walker, but his fears were unfounded as only bright smiles and looks of respect greeted him as he entered the precinct doors. When the pair was fully inside, thunderous applause echoed throughout the bull pen. Gus looked over at Shawn and saw the shocked and emotional look on his face.

"Wow guys, that was really...wow." Shawn said to the officers. "Glad to be back!" More applause sounded and a few of the officers came up and shook his hand.

Everyone had heard what he had done and told him how brave he was. Shawn caught sight of Juliet through the throng of officers and realized, he hadn't thought about being brave. He only did what he thought was necessary at the time.

"Gentlemen!" Chief Vick called to them from across the hall and motioned for them to come into her office.

Nodding at the officers, Shawn followed Gus and closed the door behind him as he entered the room. "Hey Chief, I heard you had a case for us."

Chief Vick was surprised when she heard from Carlton that Juliet had told him Shawn was coming into the station today. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised because after all, it was _Shawn_ they were talking about. "Please have a seat."

"That was quite a reception." Gus commented. "Did Juliet tell everyone we were coming?"

The Chief gave them a knowing smile. "Actually, Carlton is the one that told everyone."

Shawn's features scrunched and he put a finger to his head, remembering their entrance. He hadn't noticed Carlton at first but focusing on his memories he realized, the detective was there, and was the first one clapping. Popping his eyes open Shawn smiled widely and chuckled. "I'll be damned."

Chief Vick smiled back before getting down to business. "So Mr. Spencer, Mr. Guster, I am sure you have heard about the killings that happened down near the docks..."

Shawn only half listened as the Chief briefed them on the case he already knew about. He had read the paper and had a pretty good idea about who was responsible. They just had to do a bit of digging before he could have a "vision" of who the killer was.

Sighing inwardly, Shawn realized how different everything would be now. Having to rely on other people was not easy for him but for some reason, when he did, they hadn't seemed to mind. He would need Gus a lot more now for cases, they wouldn't be able to go breaking into houses for a while either, but Shawn figured they would manage. Somehow things would be okay, not great, but okay, and as long as his friends and family were with him, Shawn could be just fine with okay.

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**End Notes: Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed. I had fun expanding this and doing an angsty whump story. **

**On a couple side notes... the first chapter of "Made This Way" sequel to "Born This Way" will be out later this week so keep an eye out for it.**

**Also, the next in the series of Moonlighting won the poll! Thanks to those that voted and I will have that out to you guys very soon... but going to do a little bit of fun with the series before the sequel comes out. I am planning on a bridge between the first and second stories that focuses on their training so I will get that one to you guys first so watch out for that one too.**


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